Chapter 20 Lindsay
TWENTY
LINDSAY
By the time we reach the dining hall, my lips are still swollen, and Nolan’s glasses are slightly crooked. I fix them before we step inside.
“You look suspiciously pleased with yourself,” he mutters.
“I am. It’s not every day I get a chance to corrupt my perfectly sweet boyfriend.”
His cheeks get that adorable blush when I call him my boyfriend. I hope he never loses that. Stopping before going through the doors, I pull him to me for a quick kiss.
“There you go, tempting me again,” I whisper.
He nips lightly at my lips, a shy smile pulling at the corners of his mouth before he says, “We could find another empty classroom.”
A delighted laugh spills from my throat, but I shake my head. “I really wish we could, but since I threatened the council to allow me to take classes again, missing my first day back…might look like I didn’t mean it. And my new schedule includes Forbidden Magic.”
The doors swing open in front of us—taking the choice from us either way. Plates clink, students talk amongst themselves, and the hum of magic that I now recognize is woven through everything feeling similar to static in the air.
My first official day back, to classes at least.
Nolan links his fingers with mine, and we pass the exiting students into the space that still feels as magical as the first day I entered it. Raiden spots us first. He’s slouched in his new usual chair, boot propped against a chair across from him. The second his eyes find me, he straightens.
Tamsin follows his gaze and grins at us. “I see you took the long way here,” she calls. “And obviously took a detour. Someone looks well-kissed.”
I choke. Nolan goes red to the tips of his ears.
Raiden’s eyes flick between us slowly, as though he’s assessing if she’s right or not.
Although, I’m sure he felt it through the bond.
I can practically read all of his thoughts now if I choose, I don’t…
honestly, that little new talent sucks, I have enough of my own thoughts inside my head, thank you very much.
Raiden’s eyes darken in a way that has absolutely nothing to do with jealousy and everything to do with instinct. He doesn’t say a word. He just reaches out, hooks an arm around my waist, and tugs.
I land in his lap with a small, undignified sound that does absolutely nothing to disguise how much I like being manhandled by my bonded shifter in public.
“Nolan,” he says mildly over my shoulder, “you left evidence.”
Nolan sputters.
I twist slightly to look at him. “Jealous?” I know he’s not, but it’s hard not to tease him anyway.
Raiden’s hand slides up my spine, warm and possessive, fingers spreading between my shoulder blades. The bond hums at the contact. His other hand brackets my hip, anchoring me as though I might bolt.
“You smell like him,” he murmurs against my ear.
Heat blooms under my skin as he noses my neck.
“I was with him,” I whisper back.
His teeth graze just beneath my jaw—barely there, just enough to remind me what he is. My shadows flutter in response, rippling around my feet.
“And now you’re on my lap,” he says, sounding very satisfied with himself.
Then he kisses me.
There’s nothing shy about Raiden’s kisses since he claimed me as his mate.
They’re firm and claiming and full of heat that doesn’t ask permission because it already knows it has it.
His hand tightens in my hair just enough to tilt my head, his mouth moving against mine in a way that makes the world narrow to warmth and breath and the steady thud of his heart under my palm.
The dining hall noise fades. For a second, I forget entirely that we’re surrounded by people. Until—
“Ahem.”
Tamsin.
I pull back slowly, blinking.
Raiden doesn’t release me. He just rests his forehead against mine, eyes half-lidded and smug.
“Yes?” he asks lazily without looking at her.
“I would just like to formally state,” Tamsin says, gesturing wildly with a fork, “that some of us are surviving on secondhand romantic tension and cafeteria eggs.”
“You don’t want a man,” he says flatly.
“I don’t want a man,” she agrees immediately. “But I would like the option of dramatic kisses in common areas. For balance.”
I laugh, breath still a little uneven.
“You could dramatically kiss someone,” I offer.
She makes a face. “Please. I have standards. And a type. And none of them are currently available.”
Nolan clears his throat, still red. “Standards? Is now a good time to remind you of the boys I’ve seen you kiss?”
“Funny. And no, they are in the past for a reason. They obviously didn’t reach my standards.”
He snorts, and Raiden huffs out a laugh.
Tamsin points her fork at Nolan. “You, specifically, do not get to judge my experimental phase.”
“I wasn’t judging,” Nolan says, pushing his glasses up. “I was observing.”
“Oh no,” she groans. “Not you, too. I cannot handle two of you saying you ‘observe.’”
Raiden smirks. “He’s learning from the fae.”
Nolan flushes again. “I am not.”
I glance between them, amused. “You absolutely are.”
He opens his mouth to argue, then closes it, because… well.
Tamsin’s eyes light up. “Wait. Is that what this is about? Is our sweet warlock being haunted by a certain princely menace?”
“I am not haunted,” Nolan says stiffly.
“Mm,” I hum. “He’s just very brave this morning.”
Raiden’s gaze flicks to me at that. “Brave how?”
Nolan glares at me. I grin.
“He told a prince to back off,” I say casually.
Tamsin gasps as if I just announced a public execution, her wide eyes going to Nolan. “You did not.”
“I did,” Nolan mutters.
“And?” Raiden asks.
“And nothing,” Nolan says quickly. “He was being cryptic and dramatic, and I set a boundary.”
Tamsin presses a hand to her chest. “Our boy is growing up.”
“I am not a plant,” Nolan protests.
“Debatable,” she replies. “You thrive in libraries.”
Raiden’s mouth twitches. But his attention shifts back to me. “Is the Fae Prince still flirting with you as well?”
“I’m pretty sure it’s his default setting,” I say. “After this morning though, I know for sure he’s connected to all of us. He was pulled into Nolan’s dream, apparently.”
“What if it’s a trick, and he was just reading my mind?”
“I don’t think it was,” I reply. My shadows curl around me telling me I’m correct. Before anyone can say anything else, a shiver runs through my shadows, alerting me to the fact Auron has just entered the dining hall.
He’s alone. And without even looking his way, I can feel him heading toward our table. The darkness of the magic that runs through me shrinks, probably remembering how he just absorbed it.
My heart starts to race as he comes to a stop next to where I am sprawled on Raiden’s lap. His gaze runs over me slowly. Assessingly. And I know mine is doing the same to him.
What am I doing? Looking for proof he took the Veil into himself and survived? Searching for cracks in his perfect composure? For shadows under his skin? For weakness?
He looks…steady. Infuriatingly so. But there’s something different. A faint tightness around his eyes. A restraint that wasn’t there before.
The Veil inside me shifts, but it doesn’t surge toward him. It retreats deeper. Like it remembers that he has the power to stop it.
Raiden’s arm tightens subtly around my waist, obviously feeling the tension filling me. Auron’s gaze flicks to the movement. Then back to me.
“Good morning,” he says evenly, as though he talks to us every day.
“Is it?” I reply lightly.
Tamsin inhales dramatically. “Oh good, my second dose of tension for breakfast.”
Nolan kicks her under the table. Auron doesn’t take his eyes off me.
“I assume you’re attending classes today,” he says.
“I fought for it,” I reply. “Would be a waste not to.”
His gaze lowers briefly to where Raiden’s hand rests on my hip. He looks slightly jealous, a darkness that’s similar to mine flickers in the depths of his eyes, but he blinks, and it’s gone. Making me think I might have imagined it.
“I heard rumors you will be taking Forbidden Magic.”
Raiden stiffens beneath me. I roll my lips between my teeth. I was going to tell him this morning. “Yes,” I say, because really, denying it would be stupid at this point.
“Then we’ll be taking it together. I’ve just been transferred into it for excelling in Blood Magic Ethics & Ritual Systems,” he says. “If you need help…”
He trails off, and it hangs there between us. If I try to kill someone again, he means. I should be grateful to know I’ll have someone who can stop me if I lose control again, but why does it have to be him?
“I won’t.”
The corner of his mouth lifts almost imperceptibly. “Okay.”
He doesn’t leave, and annoyance sparks inside of me. “Why are you still here?”
His gaze meets mine. Because of you. He doesn’t say it, but I pick it right out of his head with zero effort.
“To ensure stability,” he answers instead.
“Yours or mine?”
He does smile now. “Yes.”
Tamsin makes a small strangled noise, as though she’s trying not to cheer, and I shoot her a look.
She better not start rooting for Auron. Because I think my shadows might try to strangle her.
She mimes zipping and locking her lips before throwing away the imaginary key, but her eyes go wide as they bounce between us.
My shadows flicker again, uncertain, peeking out at him from somewhere deep inside. They don’t really fear him, but they do respond to him, which is somehow worse. Auron steps back slightly, breaking the invisible line between us.
“I’ll see you in class, Lindsay.”
Not Blake. Not Veilborn. Not some title the Council slapped on me.
Lindsay.
And I realize he’s been calling me Lindsay since I’ve returned. The familiarity tightens low in my stomach.
He turns to leave, but not quickly. My shadows seep out of me and follow him for half a heartbeat, before I snap them back.
Raiden exhales slowly beneath me. “You want me to break his nose before class?” he asks casually.
There’s no real humor in it.
I huff a breath. “No.”
“You sure? It would make me feel better.”